Kazakhstan's Currency Falls To New Low Against U.S. Dollar

ASTANA -- Kazakhstan's national currency, the tenge, has reached a new low against the U.S. dollar as Central Asia's largest economy continues to struggle with falling global oil prices and the impact of Russia's economic crisis.

On January 18, the tenge fell to 372.58 against the U.S. dollar at the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange.

That is the currency's lowest level since Kazakhstan moved to a free-floating exchange system in August 2015.

Currency exchanges across the country were selling the U.S. dollar for 374 to 375 tenges on January 18.

In January 2015, the exchange rate in Kazakhstan for one U.S. dollar was 183 tenges.

The falling value of the tenge has sent economic shock waves across Central Asia, a region already struggling from the impact of low energy prices and economic slowdowns in Russia and China.

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